American Scene: Racial tensions erupt into high school brawl

By THE WASHINGTON TIMES - -
Wednesday, March 7, 2012

CALIFORNIA

Racial tensions erupt into high school brawl

CARSON | Dozens of students battled one another at a high school Wednesday in a racially motivated brawl between black and Hispanic students that left two injured and three under arrest, authorities said.

At least 30 students traded punches and kicks in a series of fights that erupted in a Carson High School courtyard during the 10 a.m. recess, said Monica Carazo, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

School police and Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies quelled the violence. Two students were sent to a hospital for treatment, but Ms. Carsazo said she did not know their conditions or the extent of their injuries.

Three students were arrested on suspicion of assault. Five other students were issued citations for fighting.

The school was placed on modified lockdown. Students were confined to classrooms except for lunch and to use restrooms.

MISSOURI

Charges in family sex case being dismissed

KANSAS CITY | A Missouri prosecutor said Wednesday that she was dismissing all charges against five men accused of sexually molesting young relatives on a western Missouri farm more than 20 years ago.

“This was a highly unusual series of cases, and the outcome should not deter other victims of crime from reporting those crimes,” Lafayette County prosecutor Kellie Wingate Campbell told the Associated Press after notifying courts in three counties of her action.

Six members of the Mohler family - Burrell Sr.; his sons Burrell Jr., David, Jared and Roland; and his brother, Darrel - were arrested in November 2009 after several young family members told investigators about a series of bizarre sex crimes on a Lafayette County farm about 30 miles east of Kansas City.

Earlier Wednesday, one of the alleged victims told the AP that she was worried that Ms. Campbell didn’t want to take the case to court. The woman, who is not being identified, said she and other family members were eager to take the stand and tell what happened to them starting in the early 1980s.

“She has no intention of taking this to court,” the woman said. “Every action has been in that direction.”